Old fart drivers

[Iamme]

@*^%~#!!)*&!

Two old ladies were in front of me going about 18 mph. Aaaargh.
I have thought about these old drivers before, and I'm sure you have thought about them also.

We all have to remember that we are all going to get old too one day, if we are lucky. Therefore, taking old peoples licenses away I don't think is a good idea.

Some suggest having them to literally take a behind the wheel test when they get their license renewed. Hmmmmm...what do you think?

But I have an idea for the here and now: Can't we drum into their heads to simply try to think fast? I think they have gotten used to being 'slow', and they don't even care to 'think fast'.

CAN 'thinking fast' be taught to those who have grown 'slow'? Can we get them to think in advance, that the light is going to turn green and to be ready to go, when it turns green? Can we teach them to drive, where they concentrate on driving, and not looking at the scenery while they drive 5 mph?

I think the old men drivers are the most guilty of this. I have been behind enough of them. I scream through my front windshield at them. "Don't look over there! Look where you're going and step on the gas! This ain't Sunday, you know!" (Stuff like that.)

The old lady drivers remind me of Hardy Har-Har, from Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har-Har (old 60's cartoon show). They are slow AND timid. They can be at a four-way stop 5 minutes before you and they just sit there...as if I might decide to chase them down and beat them up if they go in front of me.

Anyway, it seems like a worthwhile shot to try to educate the elderly driver to at least try to be as alert as possible and to try to think in advance and anticipate.

[evildave]

Well, let's just get that self-driving car AI working before we're "too old". Of course, for the first decade, I think that will be slightly more hazardous than the crazies. Eventually when everybody's car is driving its self, we'll get far better and safer traffic when NOBODY is at the wheel.

Especially when cars can be signalled light timings ahead of time and navigate through intersections non-stop at the right rate.

Since every car knows where it's going, they can also coordinate where they'll be at every moment of their trip, and the light timings and vehicle progress can be modified dynamically to ensure that every vehicle gets from point A to point B non-stop.

Little old ladies can just sit in the back seat and chat, while the car goes to its destination at the safe speed of the moment.

OR we can simply switch over to public transit wholesale.

[Iamme]

evilDave---Yes...I'm afraid your world is heading our way. I think I would rather put up with the old farts than have my world completely hands off and automated. You are talking to someone still angry from local dump closings, and apartments that don't allow you to work on your car...and car companies who make cars now so you can't work on them...and vinyl siding and fences now instead of wood that you have to scrape and paint....and composite deck and pier boards. They even try working on grasses you don't have to mow. And they have robot vacuum cleaners now that are starting to sell like hotcakes. And they have devices that tell you where the fish are in a lake. And.....I can't stand it!

:mad:

[rustypouch]

The one solution I like is having people take the same coordination tests that are administered to drunk people, but while sober.

If the person cannot pass these same tests, they should not be allowed to drive.

[Dorian Gray]

You'd think old people would drive faster. I mean, they don't have that much time.

[evildave]

It may be self selection of slow drivers.

The idiots who drive like... well, IDIOTS, they get killed.

The people who take their time and deliberate on things, they live longer.

OK, that and the medication. And see how hard you can press an accelerator with Parkinson's disease.

Comming up on the holiday season. They'll all be brushing the cobwebs off their cars and heading for the malls again.

[Number Six]

While I don't doubt that some old folks drive slow I think that drivers seen as driving slow in general aren't driving as slow as people think but rather just aren't driving as fast as others (if that makes any sense). I mean, go out driving sometime and drive the speed limit...no slower, no faster...and see how you compare to the rest of the drivers. You'll feel like a little old lady with everyone passing you up and beeping their horns at you because you drive to slow.

[Chaos]

Older people generally have longer reaction times than younger people, and their perception is not as good. Consider this, and then think about if you really want them to drive faster.

[Bikewer]

Being in law enforcement, I have a number of "encounters" with the geritol set. (careful....it's closer than you think!)

One of my favorites:

Tooling down the main drag in the large, marked police car (vintage 1973 or so, think BIG) and a fellow pulls out of a side street directly into my path, and also into the path of cars going the other way as well. Much screeching of brakes and curses as we all narrowly avoid hitting the guy.

I pursue, and hit the red lights. No response whatever. This usually means drunk or senile....

Finally, I turn on the siren. This is dangerous, since both drunks and senior citizens are likely to panic. No problem though, the guy pulls over. He's about 80. I look at his driver's licence, which is marked with an eyeglass restriction. He is wearing none.

"Uh, where are your glasses, sir?"

Senior Citizen pats his pocket. "right here, sonny, never drive without em'."

I sent him to be re-tested.....

[shuize]

Part of me is looking foward to getting old.

The older I get the more people I can tell to "get f*cked" and not care about the consequences.

I also look forward to the other old person sport of threatening to write people out of the will.

And collecting Social Security I don't need.

And driving as fast or as slow as I want.

And acting senile to get away with stuff.

"Don't like how I'm driving, Officer? You're out of the will. Now get f*cked."

Yeah, the golden years may not be so bad after all.